Liverpool’s ownership battle headed back to the High Court yesterday, a day after a Texas judge granted an injunction blocking the club’s sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox.
US owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr obtained a last-minute court order in Dallas on Wednesday blocking the £300 million (US$476 million) sale to New England Sports Ventures — just as the Liverpool board was set to approve it.
Hicks and Gillett called the attempted sale an “epic swindle” that undervalues the club and said they were suing for US$1.6 billion in damages.
Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton told Sky Sports News yesterday that Hicks and Gillett are “trying every trick” to prevent the deal from going through.
On Wednesday, before the Texas court injunction was issued, High Court judge Christopher Floyd ruled against Hicks and Gillett in their attempt to block the sale. Debts and liabilities resulting from their leveraged purchase of the club three years ago have grown to about £285 million, which is owed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Wells Fargo by today.
The case was due to go back to Floyd yesterday as the Liverpool board and RBS try to push the sale through.
Two others bids emerged this week — one from Singapore businessman Peter Lim and another from US hedge fund Mill Financial. Wednesday’s court hearing heard there was also a bid from FBR Capital Markets.
If Liverpool’s sale is delayed, the club could fail to meet today’s deadline to repay its debts. If it is put into financial administration, it would be docked nine points by the Premier League. However, it seems unlikely that RBS would take the club into administration at this point.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but